Genesis 27:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”

NIV: What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.'

NASB: Perhaps my father will touch me, then I will be like a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.'

CSB: Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself."

NLT: What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.'

KJV: My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.

NKJV: Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

Rebekah has a plan to trick her husband Isaac into giving the family blessing to Jacob instead of Esau. She has overheard Isaac's plans with Esau (Genesis 27:6–8), and has enlisted Jacob to help her in a scheme. She will prepare a meal for Isaac before Esau can return and do the same. Jacob will take that meal into Isaac and receive the blessing (Genesis 27:9–10). This not only reflects the family's ongoing problem with favoritism (Genesis 25:28), it's an example of Rebekah trying to "help" God by forcing his prophecies to come true, as she sees fit (Genesis 25:23).

Now Jacob protests. He's not a hairy man like Esau. What if he gets caught? What if Isaac decides he is mocking the old man and gives him a curse instead of a blessing? Notice, Jacob is not concerned about replicating Esau's appearance. Isaac is nearly or completely blind (Genesis 27:1). He also does not express any worry about the difference in his voice, something that will very nearly ruin the whole scheme (Genesis 27:22). Most importantly, though, he is not—it seems—the slightest concerned about the morality of what he's about to do. He just doesn't want to be caught and punished.

Genesis 27:1–29 describes how the Abrahamic family blessing came to second-born Jacob, instead of his firstborn brother, Esau. Isaac intends to give the blessing to his favored son, Esau. Rebekah commands Jacob to impersonate Esau, instead, in order to get the blessing for himself. Isaac almost catches on but is convinced by the smell of Esau on Jacob's borrowed clothes, and the hairy, Esau-like goat's skin on Jacob's hands. Isaac gives to Jacob the future-defining blessing of God.

Isaac's plan to pass the family blessing on to his favorite son, Esau, is thwarted by the deception of Isaac's wife Rebekah, and his other son Jacob. Old and blind, Isaac fails to recognize that the man claiming to be Esau is actually Jacob in a clever disguise. His prayer of blessing for wealth and rule over his brothers will remain valid though it is given under false pretense. Esau will be left with a blessing that sounds like a curse and a plan to murder his brother. Jacob will be forced to run for his life.

Prior chapters described the prosperity of Isaac, living in the Valley of Gerar. Genesis 27 leaps forward to near the end of Isaac's life. The time has come to pass on the family blessing. Isaac's intention to give that blessing to firstborn, Esau, is thwarted by the deception of Isaac's wife Rebekah and his other son Jacob. Isaac overcomes his suspicions that the man before him is not Esau and delivers the very blessing of God on Jacob. Esau is left with a near-curse and a murderous rage. Rebekah urges Jacob to go to her brother's household, a plan Isaac will endorse in the following chapter. There, he will ironically experience the sting of deception in his own life.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.